Special Entry — About The Plow and Coronavirus

Dear readers,

My name is Barth Picq, and I’ve been writing the story of The Plow here for these past three weeks. Now, considering the current health crisis we are all facing, I felt I needed to say a few things about it in order to avoid any misunderstanding.

The Plow is a literary project based on several principles:

• A real-time publication, written day-to-day, and published at the very moment the story occurs. « It happens today”.
• A variable narrative style: for example, some of the articles are transcripts of e-mails conversations, while other articles are written in first-person, with a character as the narrator. Other narrative forms should occur in the future. Each article can be read separately and might give the point of view of a character who doesn’t have the same information as the reader.
• A story that is enriched by the community: your reactions (comments, questions, emails) affect and modify the evolution of the plot, mixing with the initial script I initially developed.
• A story attempting to be as realistic as possible — exception made of the giant cylinder making its way through Europe… — , based on scientific documentation, following rigorous calculation of the object’s dimensions and trajectory, with existing locations (countries, cities) and existing characters (or strongly inspired by), and integrating news events that happen during its publication.

This last principle is what I want to talk about today.

First, the characters. You probably noticed that the text mentions, for example, Donald Trump or Viktor Orbán. I consider that they are major public figures, and as such critical to the credibility of the story. I believe it wouldn’t make sense to describe a real cylinder in a real Hungaria without its real, current leader. The Plow’s story has at its core a satirical and critical political dimension, whose figures will not always be presented under their best light — at the risk of offending some readers’ political sensibilities.

It’s a bit different when it comes to the main protagonists. Although some of them are inspired by real journalists, scientists, military leaders, or clerics, I decided to fictionalize them out of respect for their privacy. Let’s take the example of Katharine Viner, who is editor-in-chief of The Guardian since 2015: she becomes Elisabeth Viner in The Plow, and the similarities between them end with the name and occupation. Like the other characters in the story, what fiction-Viner says, thinks or does in The Plow do not reflect her real-life counterpart — I’m confident the readership will fully understand that.

And so, we come to the real topic of this whole piece: current world events.

News events are one of the most fascinating things about this whole project. 2020 is an interesting year in more than one respect. From the Tokyo Olympics to the American Presidential Election, as well as Brexit, NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission, or the European soccer tournament… The next 12 months are full of exciting narrative opportunities, questioning how they would be affected by The Plow (and even though I’m craving to give you examples, I’ll refrain from spoiling it).

And so since the start of the project, I mentioned a few times the Coronavirus, without really thinking about it, just because it was a news item in the media, and it helped ground the story in reality.

But of course, we never know what tomorrow will bring.

I had no idea that the virus would turn into a global pandemic and start disrupting our everyday lives.

As it is often the case with what we read in the media, I wasn’t really concerned by that whole virus thing at first. It was abstract, distant, and I didn’t take it seriously.

We are now on Monday, March 19th, and my indifference has turned into deep anxiety. Like most of the western world, I am currently confined in my apartment with a low stock of toilet paper. The shelves at my supermarket are empty and there are queues in front of the drugstore, something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. I’m worried about my family and friends, especially the older ones or those who are part of the medical staff, and I cannot stop thinking about the million people who will endure the coming hardships; those who will lose loved ones.

So here is the thing: my Plow kills people. It crushes millennial cities and shakes nations. Good. The Plow is a fantasy fiction about how humans would react to an inevitable disaster. Obviously there will be victims and tragedies, that’s what it’s all about.

But now that the Coronavirus is making the front pages, bursting in our daily lives, it also has to enter the fictional story. It cannot work as a believable adventure if the characters, the military or scientific organizations, act as if there is no virus. In short, I cannot keep writing The Plow if its drama doesn’t feed on the real-world drama.

You will surely understand the ethical dilemma that arises:

First, does the label “fiction” allows me to write about a current disaster, knowing that real people are dying right now?

Then, more pragmatically, is it still pertinent to fictionally talk about all these exceptional situations when we are actually living them these days?

Finally, since the pandemic is in everyone’s minds, do people want to read about disasters still?

Anyway. I have given this a great deal of thought since March 1st — and it’s why you haven’t seen any new content since. I conferred with my relatives, asked for advice (by the way, thanks honey, your opinion grows more precious every day).

Here’s where I ended up: I think I should keep writing this story.

First, because I’m convinced you, dear readers, will understand that as a major world event, the presence of the Coronavirus is essential to the nature, the authenticity, the realism of this project. That you will understand that having real-life casualties embedded in a fictional story does not mean disrespecting them or the pain caused by their loss.

Then because, in terms of narration, describing if the Europeans countries will manage to organize their response to the Plow’s terrifying march in the context of an unprecedented pandemic crisis is actually fascinating, and worth reading about.

And finally, because if it turns out you actually have better things to do, like making sure your loved ones are safe, then, by all means, go! Who cares about my silly story. Go do what’s important, and take care of your own.

I think that’s it. I apologize for having you read this long, maybe unnecessary explanation. I would be very interested in having your opinion on the matter, especially if you disagree with mine. Don’t hesitate to comment here, on the Facebook page, or via e-mail at theplowinstitute@gmail.com

Oh, a final word. This project has been terrifying for me from the start. Your multiple messages, questions and comments are incredibly touching. They really are what keep me going, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for them.

The Plow should be back on track starting tomorrow. I will do my best to catch up on the backlog.

Thanks

Barth Picq